Rifle qualification has long served as a gauge of unit proficiency and training. It facilitates risk mitigation and serves as a gate from individual training to more advanced unit training. For years, the Army has used a three position static record fire rifle qualification. This course allowed a modicum of understanding of individual marksmanship from 50m to 300m, but did little to enforce the skills needed to employ the rifle in combat. Soldiers require the skills to react to an immediate threat, reload, use cover, and change positions during an engagement to maximize their lethality and survivability on the battlefield. These skills weren’t effectively represented in the legacy rifle qualification table. The U.S. Army required a test that better prepared and qualified Soldiers for the marksmanship required by the crucible of ground combat. Now it has one.
In July 2019, the Army rolled out a new course of fire in the newly-minted TC 3-20.40. Built within the structure of the Integrated Weapons Training Strategy (IWTS), the new qualification table requires a shooter to display significantly greater weapon handling skills. Shooters must operate under the stress of a time constraint and take proper action without instruction from the tower or a lane safety. The standard for qualification has not changed, and marksmanship skill out to 300 meters is still tested at least as much as it was under the previous course of fire. The new rifle qualification course of fire will improve individual Soldier lethality by increasing the skill level needed to reach the proficiency level defined by qualification.
Where Oxford (online) defines lethality: the capacity to cause death or serious harm or damage…we articulate Soldier Lethality as the sum of lethality, mobility, situational awareness, protection, survivability, and training/human performance. Improve all to achieve overmatch.
— David Hodne (@Dave_Hodne) October 16, 2019
To prepare Soldiers for the challenges of the new qualification standard, leaders must understand the differences between the old and new courses of fire. They also need to know the differences in the training path required for Soldiers to achieve success and units to maintain readiness. Gone are the days of individual weapon qualification being an administrative necessity or “check the box.” The new standard requires a deliberate training progression to achieve success.
Bravo Company, 1-19 Infantry was the first Infantry One Station Unit Training (OSUT) company at Fort Benning, GA, to conduct rifle qualification in accordance with the new standard. The new qualification tested our ability to shape the training progression to best prepare our trainees. We developed some best practices, resulting in the average score improving from 15/40 to 36/40 from initial qualification on iron sights to final record qualification.
Our Experience
The program of instruction (POI) for rifle marksmanship (RM) in Infantry OSUT is organized into 18 distinct periods. RM 1 through 7 focus on the basics of RM. We introduce trainees to the M4 Carbine, progress through the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST), and then introduce live-fire training utilizing back-up iron sights (BUIS). This portion of training culminates with trainees executing a qualification table using BUIS. Next, trainees are issued M68 Close Combat Optics (CCOs) and proceed through a nearly identical set of training gates culminating in another qualification: RM 18.
We noticed the first significant difference in trainee ability during RM 7, the trainees’ first experience with a record fire qualification. The class in question scored an average of 15/40, while the class prior–shooting the legacy table–averaged a score of 23. Was this class just filled with inferior marksmen? Were our Drill Sergeants somehow missing the mark with their instruction to this class? Or was the new qualification that much more difficult than the legacy course of fire?
Wayne Gretzky and Marksmanship
As we analyzed our subpar results following the first qualification attempt, we realized that marksmanship, the ability to simply hit a target, was not lacking. Trainees were hitting targets at a high rate, when they actually fired. As hockey legend Wayne Gretzky (and Michael Scott) said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Our trainees weren’t firing at a significant portion of the targets because they lacked the ability to manipulate their individual weapons in an efficient manner. Targets would rise and fall before many trainees had finished a reload or switched positions.
Though a firer still faces 40 possible engagements on the new qualification table, he or she needs to reload, correct a malfunction, and/or change positions without instruction quickly enough to engage the next target. Seconds count when conducting these tasks, more closely resembling a combat environment. The requirements presented by the new qualification appeared to be significantly more difficult to learn for inexperienced shooters lacking the fundamentals of marksmanship.
Correcting the Malfunction
We made some immediate adjustments to our planned training progression to focus on this shortfall. First, we dissected the course of fire to prioritize where instruction was essential and where repetition and consistent rehearsal would be enough to improve skill level. The key was to reinforce good foundational skills and avoid practicing bad habits. Drill Sergeants re-taught techniques for reloading, demonstrated and discussed ways to change positions, and encouraged trainees to experiment with shifting positions in order to find the ways that were most economical and comfortable for each individual. We began to see improvements across the board.
While we allowed Soldiers to explore their abilities to find comfort and economy of motion, reloading presented a slightly different conundrum. Typically, a magazine change, or tactical reload, is the preferred method taught to Soldiers early in their careers. It entails retaining the empty magazine once it is replaced. It is ideally performed behind cover, as it requires a slower, more deliberate action, and is the method of choice for exchanging a partially-used magazine with a full one. For example, a Soldier may perform a tactical reload at his or her last covered and concealed position before stacking on a door and entering a structure, or once a room is cleared prior to entering another room. Generally, this method is best utilized when time is not at a premium and is a preemptive measure to keep the Soldier from reaching bolt lock earlier than necessary on an empty magazine during an engagement.
Trainees were losing significant time attempting to perform a tactical reload. Thusly, we introduced them to the concept of an emergency reload. This is a reload wherein the weapon reaches bolt lock on an empty magazine, and retention of the empty magazine is secondary in priority to getting the weapon back in the fight. This reload is the preferred method when time is of the essence, cover is unavailable, and/or putting rounds downrange quickly is of greater importance than retaining a magazine. Introducing trainees to emergency reloads greatly enhanced their efficiency on the new qualification table, as they were no longer wasting time attempting to stow empty magazines instead of engaging targets.
Rehearse, Rehearse, and Rehearse Again
After our company began to achieve relative proficiency in shifting positions and reloading, the trainees rehearsed the course of fire incessantly. While the old qualification table required little if any rehearsal, rehearsals will positively impact Soldier success on the new table. During intermittent “downtime,” Drill Sergeants timed and observed trainees rehearsing dry qualification iterations. These rehearsals built muscle memory and improved the Soldiers’ ability to perform when needed.
Adapting the Rifle Qualification POI
Under the current OSUT POI, trainees shoot an “Introduction to Barricades” course of fire during RM 14. This is seven periods of instruction after they shoot their first BUIS qualification table utilizing barricades. With this in mind, the Drill Sergeants planned and received approval for several minor modifications to the courses of fire for RM periods 11-16.
Our leadership worked with range operations cadre to create a course of fire consisting of target exposure frequency. They included a duration that modeled that seen on the qualification table. We used this after trainees finished confirming zero on LOMAH (Location Of Misses And Hits) ranges. We added barricades to courses of fire that traditionally introduced trainees to single and multiple target exposures, moving targets, and conducting immediate action on their weapons. This increased trainee familiarity with barricades and provided more opportunity to build proficiency leading to their record qualification.
The Results
With the dust cleared and cordite in the air, B Co trainees completed their final record qualification with an average score of 35.99. 68% of trainees (116/170) achieved an expert rating. They still had much to learn, but the trainees improved their skills significantly. Trainees made marked improvement since recording an average score of 15 on RM 7. Their dedication to the task and ultimate success led to an increased motivation. That motivation carried them beyond the completion of their rifle marksmanship period. It helped them to achieve goals in subsequent portions of their training path. They learned that they can hurdle seemingly insurmountable obstacles with the proper application of attention and commitment.
Translating this to your Formation
Building Expert Trainers
If you take one lesson away from reading this article, let it be this: build subject matter expertise within your formation. It will improve your unit and increase capability across the force. As an OSUT company, we benefited from two Drill Sergeants who had graduated from Fort Benning’s Master Marksman Trainer Course (MMTC). MMTC is not designed to build the best shooters, although improved marksmanship is a welcomed byproduct. The course produces individuals with a great deal of skill in marksmanship instruction. We improved both qualification and training plan development.
If you can’t send leaders to MMTC, you can grow them at home-station. MMTC can come to you in Mobile Training Team (MTT) format. The 75th Ranger Regiment and Army Marksmanship Unit are also available to conduct mobile training. Special Forces groups also team with same-station units to help improve marksmanship. Finally, civilian instructors are available for contracted instruction at command discretion.
Nothing Beats Repetition
Practice, practice, practice! Dry fire practice is free, and is the single best thing and individual can do to become a better shooter. There are only two aspects of shooting that cannot be trained during dry fire: terminal ballistics and recoil control. Every other aspect of the shot process can be improved by consistent, deliberate dry-firing. Soldiers can easily practice basic sight alignment, trigger squeeze, magazine changes, malfunction diagnosis and correction, and shooting from different positions. Dry-fire helped our Soldiers experiment with varying body positions. It helped them improve or adjust functionality of individual kit and improve reloading proficiency. This was all while getting repetitions executing the fundamentals of the shot process.
Commanders need to incentivize this kind of training. They should build systems that reward and enforce drawing weapons from the arms room regularly. This can be a cumbersome task. Look for ways to streamline the process and ensure soldiers handle their weapons as close to daily as possible. Dry-fire is the most certain way to create proficiency quickly within a formation. It is especially useful to improving weapon handling requirements of the new qualification table. Weapons handling has a much larger role in the new rifle qualification. Thus, we must build these skills and commit them to muscle memory before firing a single shot.
Dress to Kill
Individual kit setup is an additional means to increase Soldier lethality. Magazine pouch design and positioning on a Soldier’s kit can make or break his ability to reload efficiently. For example, in the prone position, reloading from a closed-top magazine pouch on the chest will likely be much slower than from an open-top pouch worn on a shooter’s belt. From a survivability standpoint, the Soldier will also expose less of himself to the enemy when retrieving the magazine from his belt than he will when rolling onto his side to retrieve a chest-mounted magazine.
Units should resist the urge to ban personally-purchased kit items. This includes magazine pouches and battle belts. Some aftermarket options offer Soldiers a better opportunity to perform at their best. However, leaders must ensure that Soldiers are using dependable equipment that will perform in training and combat. This is not to say that the new qualification requires soldiers to purchase their own kit. But, units will see that improved kit will beget improved scores and Soldier lethality. Soldiers will waste less time fumbling with magazines, move more efficiently, and have more time to execute the shot process.
Train as You Fight
No, I do not mean train in body armor, helmet, and knee pads at all times. Training as you fight means that units must cultivate the mindset of training like their lives are on the line. Build barricades and use them in your company areas. Learn to use them as if someone is actively engaging your position. Train magazine changes and immediate action whenever possible. Train like the only thing between you and death is your ability to get your weapon back into the fight and engage the enemy. Utilize a shot timer to try to shave a quarter second off reload times across your formation. You improve the things you measure, so keep track.
Train to get a little bit better each time you draw your weapon.
Slight improvements, made over time, will build on each other. Stack them to make your formation, and the individuals within, that much more lethal and survivable.
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Rifle qualification is changing, but the results you achieve as a formation do not have to atrophy as a result. Soldiers and leaders need to do more under the new rifle qualification table. But, we are more than capable of succeeding. Learn from our early experiences that produced excellent results. Build subject matter expertise within your formation through any and every available training opportunity. Conduct dry-fire practice often to build, improve, and maintain skills. Seek out and welcome ergonomic improvements to kit that allow the possibility of realizing increased proficiency. Train every day to be a little better than you were the day before. Work to be a split second faster on the gun than the enemy. The new standard, and the training required to meet it, will make your formation better prepared for the next fight.
Capt. Matt Milley is an Infantry Officer currently assigned as the Company Commander for Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment. Prior to command, he most recently was assigned to 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) with service as the Brigade Command Group Operations Officer, Rifle Platoon Leader, Heavy Weapons Platoon Leader, and Assistant Operations Officer.
Sgt. 1st Class Jorge Sanchez is an 18B Weapons Sergeant currently assigned to 3rd PLT, Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment as a senior Drill Sergeant. Prior to his assignment as a United States Army Drill Sergeant he was assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). Additionally, he has multiple combat deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and most recently Africa.
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How much time did it take to complete the 18 blocks Of Rifle Marksmanship instruction? Were any additional resources required, beyond those used in the legacy marksmanship instruction? Time available is the greatest constraint on reserve component soldiers and unit commanders need to get their heads around the requirement now.